A New York physician was indicted by a grand jury in Louisiana on Jan. 31 for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill via telehealth in the abortion-restricted state.
The indictment directly challenges shield laws enacted by eight states, including New York, that aim to protect clinicians from prosecution when prescribing abortion medications to patients in states with abortion bans.The case could test the limits of those protections, legal experts suggest, and have implications for health systems that operate telehealth services across state lines.
According to court records, Margaret Carpenter, MD, prescribed the medication in April 2024 for a minor in Louisiana under New York's telemedicine abortion shield law. She has been charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs and a warrant has been issued for her arrest. Her medical practice, Nightingale Medical and a third person have also been named in the indictment, according to CBS News.
Louisiana state Attorney General Liz Murrill also framed the case as one involving coercion, alleging that the minor did not consent to the abortion and that the pills were provided at the direction of her mother, who was also charged. District Attorney Tony Clayton, whose office brought the case to the West Baton Rouge Parish grand jury, told CBS that the minor was instructed by her mother to take the pill "or else," and that the mother ordered the pill online and gave it to the child.
According to The New York Times, legal experts believe the case will move through the federal courts and could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. If Dr. Carpenter is convicted, the felony charge carries a one- to five-year sentence, according to The Advocate. Dr. Carpenter was also named in a civil lawsuit filed in Texas in December 2024.